Apologetics of the Day: The Genealogies of Lord Jesus

Critique: Matthew 1 and Luke 3 present two different genealogies of Jesus. The Bible is internally inconsistent.

Response:

There is no contradiction between 2 accounts. In the culture back then, a son could refer to a biological son as well as adoptive son and son in law. This is important for the sake of inheritance especially when the father had only daughters. Hence, in Matthew 1, Jacob was the biological father of Joseph whereas in Luke 3, Heli was the father in law of Joseph. Joseph was then the “supposed” father of Jesus.